fan clutch

[BigTed00]

My car has been overheating infrequently lately, and I believe I have traced the problem to the fan clutch. I went to the local $tealer, and they told me it was $235 part. I literally laughed my way out the door. Anyways its on order from pelican parts, if anyone wants to give me any pointers or advice I appreciate it. I'm estimating around 1 hour for the repair?

[yaofeng]

Why do you even go tease the dealer?

Anyway, if you have the proper tool, you can do it in five to ten minutes. There is a water pump pulley locking tool which I don't have. I use a pair of 12" adjustable wide jaw pliers to grab hold of the pulley, standing on the driver side of the car. Then with a 32 mm open wrench I turned the fan nut clockwise to loosen it.

[632 Regal]

Why do you even go tease the dealer?

Anyway, if you have the proper tool, you can do it in five to ten minutes. There is a water pump pulley locking tool which I don't have. I use a pair of 12" adjustable wide jaw pliers to grab hold of the pulley, standing on the driver side of the car. Then with a 32 mm open wrench I turned the fan nut clockwise to loosen it.
http://www.bimmer.info/~regal632/Fan%20removal%20tool.jpg

Also want to make sure the auxillary fans are kicking on too.

[dacoyote]

because it's fun to go hang out at the dealership

[califblue]

about 15 min

the shroud needs to be lifted up...use caution and be careful with the clips
( use a small flat head screw driver)
first the clutch is a reverse thread, a pair of channel locks well loosen it up

just install the old one in reverse. tighten a little ...remember it is reverse thread so it well tighten itself

go have a beer:p

[yaofeng]

http://www.bimmer.info/~regal632/Fan%20removal%20tool.jpg

Also want to make sure the auxillary fans are kicking on too.

Is that made out of a lawn mower blade?

[califblue]

you don't need any special tools...make one if it make you feel happy but it is not needed

[Dave M]

I use a long skinny bladed screwdriver and thread it between a couple of water pump bolts. The handle rests on a........

OOps, wrong engine, may not work on a 535

[abdeweese]

Same issue here. e34, M50.

I have tried holding the pully with a #@ flat head screw driver. I now own a bent screw driver.

I have tried holding it in place with a pair of channel locks. I quit before rounding the bolts.

What I don't have is a 32mm wrench. I'm using a Cresent wrench [actually made by Cresent] but you can figure out how that reacts to a hammer blow.

What about PB?

Good for seized bolts but how does it do on belts an other plastic parts?

[Alexlind123]

The only wrench i could find around here was too thick to fit, so i used channel locks and gave them a good jerk. It appeared as if someone had used anti-seize before though, so that may have helped.

Edit: I took my fan off so that i would lower the tranmission a bit to replace a seal. I loosened the tranny and set it on a jack, then the engine rocked back on its mounts.

[joshua43214]

If you can't remove it with either a sharp jerk on the end of a wrench or a swift tap from a rubber mallet, its too tight. You can very gently twist(not pry) a large flat head screwdriver between the pulley and the timing cover to hold the pulley from turning, be very careful not to bend the pulley. Normaly belt tension is all that is needed though to hold it in place.

I use the super thin Snap On double open end wrench, its alot shorter than most peoples wrenchs. Too tighten, I just spin the fan up onto the hub, find the spot where the wrench is about horizontal, then lift the wrench up to almost vertical and let it drop. this is all the tighter it needs to be. It may seem a bit scary, but I have never had a fan come off after I have put it on.

I knew one guy who would just leave the fan loose about 1 turn and start the engine to tighten it. One good rev was all it took to snug it up. But his would occassioaly over tighten a bit.

If you are haveing real trouble removing the fan, try this. find a long hard rod of some type, I have a 24" bearing race punch, but almost anything will do. grind the end of your punch to a good 90 degree flat, make sure the rim of the flat portion is sharp and not rounded. set the edge of the punch on the fan nut near the edge of the flat and strike it hard with a mallet so that you are turning the nut. Be aware this can easily damage the water pump, but maybe the only way to remove the fan if some gorrilla instaled it last time.

I never use anti seize on the fan nut, I just clean the threads up with a rag or a pick before I install it.

[welshbee-em]

no prob 32 mm open ended spanner screwdriver bit of sweat one or two choice words and £17.50 off e-bay job done

[bfd]

Do you have a bike shop near you? If so, for about $10 you can get a Park headset 32/36mm wrench like this one:

http://www.parktool.com/products/detail.asp?cat=50&item=HCW%2D15

Actually, go to the discontinued section, you can purchase a 30mm/32mm wrench for $3.00:

http://www.parktool.com/parktoolgear/detail.asp?cat=72&item=HCW%2D7OLD

Either of these wrenches are thin enough to work too!